Strive for Simplicity

Put Customers Front and Center

We practice user and customer-centered design and delivery. We leverage technology to improve communication, increase transparency and provide greater access to data in our pursuit of inclusive engagement with all Californians.

Be Innovative

We take calculated risks to solve problems purposefully and to create greater mission value. We collaborate with our program partners and the private sector to simplify complexity and deliver creative solutions.

Focus on Outcomes

We are flexible, responsive, results-oriented facilitators of success, who overcome constraints to achieve our objectives.

Own It

We demonstrate accountability through transparency, self-evaluation, openness to feedback and the pride we take in our work.

Take a Statewide Perspective

We are one, interdependent, and interconnected technology community serving One California. Therefore, we value our diversity, seek to understand the perspectives of others, and look to collaborate and contribute to each other’s success for the sake of all Californians

CREATE ONE DIGITAL GOVERNMENT

Increase customer satisfaction through improved responsiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness of government services.

California state government primarily operates in organizational and technology silos, limiting our ability to provide customers with a simple, streamlined and responsive experience. It is imperative that we take steps toward creating One Digital Government for the people of California. This will involve improving the agility and responsiveness of our technology operations, accelerating the move toward common platforms and shared services, embracing usercentered design concepts and leveraging technology to fundamentally transform government process and operations. For this to be possible, we must work together in a collaborative and boundaryless manner — transcending the rigid lines of bureaucracy and departmental boundaries to create an open, sharing climate that seeks to harness the combined strength of California’s technology community.

OUTCOMES:
The information and services that customers need delivered anytime, anywhere, and through the most efficient, effective, and responsive method possible.

OUR PRIORITIES

1. Increase operational agility and performance in the delivery of technology services.

To keep pace with customer expectations and the ever-changing technology landscape, we will adopt an agile and continuous improvement mindset to running our technology businesses. To achieve this, we will accelerate the planningto-execution cycle time, remove barriers to innovation, streamline and simplify the project approval process and the acquisition of technology goods and services by balancing the need for proper due diligence while eliminating unnecessary control friction. We will seek to improve how we measure the efficacy of our operations and the impact of our investments in delivering business value.

2. Improve the design and delivery of digital services.

Elegant, simple, and user-centric design is an important first step to improving customer experience and engagement with government services. To achieve this, we will adopt a humancentered design approach to our projects, equip our workforce with new skills in design thinking, and embrace a customer-centric approach to service delivery. We will also take steps to increase the availability and accuracy of data retained by the State.

3. Foster collaboration and boundaryless behavior.

The rapid pace of change and complexity inherent in our societal, organizational, and technological systems requires that we leverage our collective knowledge and work across organizational silos. We strive to be mindful that we are One Technology Community serving One California. Our technology leaders will model desired behaviors, build trust, and seek to eliminate siloed-thinking by promoting cross-departmental initiatives and the sharing of resources, data, technology, talent, and other capabilities. In addition, we remain committed to partnering with local governments and educational entities to meet their technology needs.

4. Transform and simplify the way government does business through innovation.

We will continually seek to improve the way we deliver services. We will simplify and streamline processes through lean practices, reduce bureaucracy, and innovatively apply technology to deliver better government services. We will avoid simply automating ineffective or inefficient business processes and bureaucracy. We will value and reward the innovators, change agents and calculated risk takers within our workforce.

5. Accelerate the adoption of common technology platforms and shared services.

We will seek to reduce the often-duplicative technology investments that exist across the State. An increased emphasis on shared platforms, services, and data will provide the State with a cost-effective and innovative opportunity to redirect talent away from lower value, duplicative support functions into more strategic, thoughtful and creative work that directly supports business programs. Shared services can significantly reduce technology debt by eliminating “one-off” business solutions and duplicative investments and encourage the negotiation of statewide agreements.

“The government doesn’t own anything. We are public servants and stewards of the resources we have been entrusted. All our technology, applications, websites, and various solutions are owned by the people of California. Everything we do should be for the people, to make their lives better, and to make their interaction with their government as easy and streamlined as possible.”

Tim Garza

Agency Chief Information Officer, California Natural Resources Agency

ENSURE SECURE DELIVERY

Advance the maturity of information security across California government.

California state government primarily operates in organizational and technology silos, limiting our ability to provide customers with a simple, streamlined and responsive experience. It is imperative that we take steps toward creating One Digital Government for the people of California. This will involve improving the agility and responsiveness of our technology operations, accelerating the move toward common platforms and shared services, embracing usercentered design concepts and leveraging technology to fundamentally transform government process and operations. For this to be possible, we must work together in a collaborative and boundaryless manner — transcending the rigid lines of bureaucracy and departmental boundaries to create an open, sharing climate that seeks to harness the combined strength of California’s technology community.

OUTCOMES:
Proactive leadership from a security governance team formed with the State’s vital security partners, information protection policies and processes that are flexible and effective, data availability within a stable and resilient technology infrastructure, a measurable and improved risk baseline, and a security-aware and vigilant workforce.

OUR PRIORITIES

1. Protect California’s information assets and maximize data access.

Californians and government business programs need a secure infrastructure and access to vast pools of information. A catastrophic security failure could do significant damage to California’s economic engine, one of the largest in the world. We will protect our information assets through the promotion of secure design and delivery of government services thus enabling the State’s digital transformation. We will embrace security-resiliency—the ability to anticipate, endure, and recover when the inevitable cyberattack and information security breaches occur.

A complex infrastructure shared by hundreds of government entities is only as strong as the weakest link. We will implement a scalable and collaborative approach to security risk reduction to ensure appropriate protection of both critical and non-critical information. We will conduct regular security vulnerability assessments to measure the effectiveness of our security policies. We will collect, track, and analyze security events and trends to maximize our security resources. We will share security intelligence with our partners to most effectively combat cyberattacks.

3. Develop an enterprise approach to security leadership and governance.

4. Improve and invest in security capabilities to protect mission-critical systems and data.

Identified security gaps mandate value-added enterprise investments. Security vulnerability assessment results, analysis of risk incidents, and awareness of current and future threats all contribute to sound security investment decisions. As we continue to develop improved in-house security expertise, we will balance our use of private and public service providers. We will be vigilant and unwavering in our commitment to the privacy and protection of the State’s information assets.

Security is everyone’s duty. We will broaden security awareness by establishing a securityminded culture in which each State employee believes that security is their responsibility. To further develop the expertise of our existing security professionals, we will implement comprehensive security skills education and training. In addition, we will increase the pool of qualified candidates through innovative recruiting that attracts private sector security professionals to public service.

“Californians entrust state entities with their confidential information. It is our obligation to use all that is available to us including tools and services such as the State’s Security Operation Center to safeguard the information.”

BUILD A DYNAMIC WORKFORCE

Build a dynamic technology workforce that takes pride in delivering quality services and innovative solutions to their customers.

Technology is a dynamic industry, marked by rapid and constant change, revealing opportunities for innovation and greater publicsector customer engagement. Therefore, it is essential that we attract, develop, and retain a dynamic workforce – people who are ‘positive in attitude and full of energy and new ideas’. An adaptable, sustainable, skilled and engaged workforce that can embrace these challenges and enable us to fulfill our mission.

OUTCOMES:
An engaged, skilled, and dynamic technology workforce that provides the strategic leadership and functional expertise necessary to create innovative solutions that enable the State’s programs and departments to fulfill their mission.

OUR PRIORITIES

1. Create a culture of innovation and collaboration.

Leadership will encourage technologists and program leaders to innovate in order to increase mission value. We will create opportunities that encourage innovative technology, low risk experimentation and the adoption of processes that allows us to learn from failure. We will promote crossdepartmental collaboration through the sharing of knowledge, practices and talent.

2. Develop the capabilities of both technology leaders and functional experts.

We are committed to the development of technology-savvy program leaders and business-savvy technologists. The State of California will continue to lead the way through technology education, technical training and leadership academies. To facilitate more relational and collective learning, we will encourage formal and informal mentoring and the establishment of communities of practice.

Leadership will strengthen workforce engagement and accountability by promoting an outcome-oriented culture that recognizes and rewards innovation and results. In partnership with CalHR, we will regularly survey employees and take steps to build a unified culture and improve employee engagement. We will raise awareness of the importance and impact of our work through clear communication of our mission and increased field exposure for our technologists.

We will continue to implement strategies that clarify and communicate what we do, our mission, and the difference our work makes. We will address potential skill gaps through creative outreach and recruiting. We will expand outreach to educational institutions, industry, and through job fairs.

5. Foster a diverse and unified technology community.

We will continue to develop strategies and implement initiatives that directly support the concept of “One Technology Community”. These strategies will include enhancing communication, expanding opportunities for networking, and promoting events that encourage the deepening of community and shared purpose. We will look for opportunities to maximize the diverse skills and experience found across the multiple generations present in today’s workforce. We are committed to activities that promote and encourage the application of our shared vision, mission, and guiding principles.

“Vision 2020 is a thoughtful, wellcrafted and forward-looking plan for the state’s information technology future. I applaud the plan’s recognition of our talented IT workforce, their contributions today and into the future, and the commitment to continued investment in their development. In the end, it is our IT workforce who will deliver the outcomes envisioned in the plan.”

Richard Gillihan

Director, California Department of Human Resources (CalHR)

MEASURES OF SUCCESSBy 2020, we will…

Create One Digital Government

Increase customer satisfaction through improved responsiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness of government services.

Reduce the time it takes for new technology initiatives to go from concept to minimum viable product (MVP).

GOVERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION

Key Roles and Responsibilities

ITEC Members will monitor Vision 2020 performance, lead efforts to prioritize investments, and enable strategies that ensure accountability, alignment and the achievement of the plan’s goals. Encourage boundaryless behavior, statewide solutions, and multi-department initiatives.

State Technology Advisory Councils will develop statewide initiatives and strategies in their focus area that contribute to the successful implementation of the strategic goals and priorities outlined in Vision 2020.